Chak De! India

Alright, I agree I am a little late to watch this movie. The experience did leave me with that happy, warm and fuzzy feeling you get after watching a good sports movie. The movie despite its predictability and been-there-seen-that plot manages to engage you till the end. The performances of SRK and the girls who form the hockey team are spot on. In fact the choice to use non-actresses for the hockey team works for the movie. When it comes to acting these girls are rough around the edges which makes their characters likeable. The movie has the right doses of sportsmanspirit and patriotism without going over the top.For once a sports movie used the services of a real sportsperson as an advisor. The hockey scenes are well choreographed, thanks to Mir Rajan Negi’s involvement. The camera work, editing and the background score work hand in hand to create an adrenaline infused viewing experience.

OK, the praises end here. Now Mr Shimit Amin here’s my list of “what could have been better and what could have been avoided”:1) The Hockey federation staff was so one dimensional….come on we are not in the 70s era of black or white characters anymore.2) The Kabir Khan’s mohalla scenes are absolutely tacky…..so much so that they belong in a different movie….they seem to have been directed by another person….I almost feel that the producer (Mr Adi Chopra) forced them down the director’s throat..if so, you are acquitted Mr Amin.3) The Vice-captain proposing the girl publicly and she rejecting the proposal seems like a scene from a Rekha-Dimple “feminist” stereotypical movies…I would have slashed it and burnt that part of the film at the editing table.4) The background score of Salim-Sulaiman does have the nail-biting effect where needed, but in most places its over the top and drowns every other sound. A little more sync-sound would have created a better effect. In fact using the sound of the sport (hockey sticks clashing, shoes digging the turf, players huffing and puffing) would have created an awesome effect.